The Padres will only go as far as their pitching will take them. So will the Padres pitching staff be able to match their efforts from the year prior? The only reason the Padres were a team above .500 last year was in large part due to the strong and unexpected season from Mat Latos, along with the consistent outings from Garland and Richard. Although the padres used their deep bull-pen ...

Padres fans will have to learn a lot of new faces in the upcoming season. The Padres have been very active at the winter meetings, trading Adrian Gonzalez for prospects and dealing four relief pitchers for two position players. It will be a totally different team in 2011 but they will still rely on the same system. Pitching number one, with speed on the bases and clutch hitting.
Key Dep...

The date was July 30, 2010. The teams were the Phillies and the Reds. The pitching matchup was Roy Halladay (9-6, 2.29) vs. Aaron Harang (6-7, 5.07). Who do you think won?
If you said the Reds, you are right!
Trailing 3-0 entering the bottom of the 6th, the Reds got a leadoff homer from Joey Votto to make it 3-1. Orlando Cabrera got a 1-out single to score Ramon Hernandez in the 7th to cut it ...

Every Reds game will be televised for the rest of the 2010 season. Today's afternoon game at Colorado will be aired nationally on MLB Network at 3 PM, Cincinnati time. The rest of the schedule will air on Fox Sports Ohio, except for the 9/25 game at San Diego. That game has been changed to a 4:10 start to air nationally on FOX. In addition, George Grande makes his return to the Reds broadcast b...

It seems like every time I post something about the Reds, it's negative. Maybe my blood gets to boiling after a disappointing loss or series and I just have to write something. But not today. Not after the Reds finished off the Cubs to win yet another series, and improve their record to 20-games over .500. Can you believe it? I've been covering this team since spring training began in Arizona. ...

Some losses are tougher to take than others. I don’t exactly know where Wednesday night’s 5-4 loss at Atlanta ranks, but I’d say at least an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
The Reds had a few chances to score runs before they did some actual damage in the 8th. Their best chance came in the 5th when Aaron Harang began things with a lead-off double. Orlando Cabrera got him to 3rd on a ground out, but...

It’s too bad it had to end like that. With a chance to move into first place in the Central division, the Reds were putting together what they hoped would be another game-winning rally in their last at-bat, only to see it fizzle into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play. St. Louis had put together a 4-0 lead against starter Aaron Harang, but Cincinnati kept coming after them. Two runs in the 7th o...

The Reds rebounded from a 14-7 loss to the Cubs on Friday to post a 14-2 win over the North Siders on Saturday, but what might get lost in the shuffle was the dominance of Aaron Harang for Cincinnati. On the eve of his 32nd birthday, he pitched like the Harang of old and kept the Cubs at bay.
Harang’s night began when he struck out the side in the 1st inning. He lasted until there were two ou...

It didn't take Starlin Castro very long to get settled in.
Not to be outdone by Atlanta's Jason Heyward, Castro also hit a three-run homerun in the first at-bat of his career — but he didn't stop there. In fact, Castro ended the day with a major league record 6 RBI's in his debut and led the Cubs to a 14-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
After suffering a three-game sweep at t...

Sometimes, it’s all about taking care of the little things.
Reds manager Dusty Baker, for the first time in his managerial career – so long as he can remember – did not make himself available to the media following last Saturday’s embarrassing loss to the Padres. It was as sloppy a game as you’ll ever see on a baseball field. Baker was livid with his players and rightfully so. He open...

“Can anybody out here play this game?” Casey Stengel asked that question when he managed the 1962 New York Mets in their inaugural season. Those words had to come to the minds of veteran Reds fans watching Saturday’s mess of a game at GABP.
I had an enjoyable morning Saturday at the local park watching teams of 8-year-olds play. Some were in their first season of organized baseball, and i...

Play organized sports for any length of time, at any age, and you’re bound to run into a bad spell here and there. When it begins, your coach/manager may be a little sympathetic to your cause. But eventually, your coach/manager will say, “No excuses.” Coaches/managers just want you to get your work done. Period. No excuses.
That brings us to Aaron Harang. I sat as close to the field as I ...